Two years passed.
Lu Yin estimated that the monster would arrive at the Spirit Nidus within a year. It had probably already encountered Yong Heng.
In the Aevum Inch, Yong Heng had indeed encountered the beast. He had watched the enormous creature sweep past him, like a new sky overlaying the old. Meanwhile, he had been hiding beneath a springboard while suppressing his aura. The monster had completely ignored the man and simply passed by.
Yong Heng had let out a long breath as he stared at the creature’s receding back. An Immortal beast... just how did Lu Yin provoke that thing?
Wasn’t he in the Consciousness Megaverse? Where did that beast even come from?
Yong Heng had felt lucky the beast had ignored him. If not, regardless of whether he had been close to a springboard or not, he would not have been safe.
Yong Heng had taken a moment to think as he stood atop the springboard. He was in no rush, so he would wait. There was no chance that the Spirit Nidus would be peaceful for some time.
In the blink of an eye, another year passed. When the familiar beast roar rang out once again, Lu Yin’s expression changed. The monster had finally arrived.
At the Spirit Nidus’s boundary, people blankly stared into the Aevum Inch. “Did anyone else hear something?”
“I think I did... Was that a beast’s roar? From the Aevum Inch?”
“Impossible. You must have misheard. No creature has ever emerged from the Aevum Inch.”
“But I just felt my heart drop.”
“Me too.”
“Same here...”
Lu Yin stared intently into the Aevum Inch. Eventually, he saw a colossal shadow crashing through the void, making its way towards the Spirit Nidus. However, while Lu Yin could make out the beast’s shape, the people protecting the boundary gate could not. Still, they did hear a second roar. It was clear and terrifying.
Everyone turned to look into the Aevum Inch, especially the Ortuser who was on patrol. His jaw dropped when he saw what was approaching. What is that thing? It’s almost big enough to blot out the entire Aevum Inch!
Just as the man was about to scream, a vine suddenly emerged from the void. It sliced through space, as though wanting to split the Spirit Nidus in two. It shot past Lu Yin, moving into the Aevum Inch. As the vine moved, it flung Lu Yin in the same direction, into the region of space that had just been torn apart.
No one could have anticipated such a sudden turn of events. Even the Ortuser, who was an incredibly powerful cultivator, could not understand what he was seeing. It was not the sight of space being ripped open that shocked him most, but rather the pure abruptness to everything. After all, he could not even sense where the vine had come from.
Lu Yin was violently flung into the torn space. When he was finally able to steady himself, he saw a place that was both familiar and unknown. Is this... Heavenspire?
While Possessing Wu Wei, Lu Yin had accessed the conscient’s memories of Heavenspire, but he had never set foot there in person.
If he had really been thrown to Heavenspire, then did Master Qing Cao want him to continue on to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse?
Before he could think any further, the vine shot out again, with its far end holding the monstrous beast.
Lu Yin saw this, and his face grew pale. The vine had grabbed the enormous beast. This was very bad. The monster was about to be hurled at Lu Yin! There was no doubt that Master Qing Cao was incredibly powerful since he was capable of binding even an Immortal beast.
The terror that suddenly filled the beast’s roar stunned everyone who was still at the megaverse’s boundary.
Master Qing Cao’s expression turned grave. He held the vine with one hand as he hurled the beast towards Heavenspire with tremendous force.
The beast’s claws slammed into the vine with incredible force, sending ripples across the entire Spirit Nidus. The power of those claws was so overwhelming that Master Qing Cao almost lost his grip on the vine, but he managed to hold on. Strands of green grass drifted out from him and reinforced the vine. They were transformed from countless motes of Immortal matter, and they spread outward.
“If you were at your peak, I might actually struggle,” he commented. “But right now, off you go.”
With that, Master Qing Cao flung the beast, which was still bound, and sent it hurtling across the megaverse to crash into Heavenspire.
For the first time, anger blazed in the beast’s two eyes as it turned to glare at Master Qing Cao. The monster’s rage was fully communicated, but Master Qing Cao did not react. He simply continued to hurl the monster into the starry expanse above Heavenspire.
Within Heavenspire, Lu Yin raced for a specific target. He was not far, as he could not be that far from the Skyward Gate. Master Qing Cao not only wanted to protect the Spirit Nidus, but he also wanted to guide the calamity away, which was why he was throwing the beast to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Lu Yin was serving as the bait. This was incredibly ruthless, and Lu Yin suddenly questioned if the beast’s arrival at the Consciousness Megaverse might also be connected to Master Qing Cao.
Right as that suspicion appeared, the beast arrived behind Lu Yin. The tear in space closed up, and the beast glared in the direction that it had come from. Its eyes then turned, and it refocused onto Lu Yin. Claws rose up high, as the beast prepared to strike.
The beast was unbelievably massive. Even though it was smaller than what Lu Yin had seen in the memory in the Willbound Spire, the beast was still more than large enough to destroy an entire universe with a swipe of its claws.
Lu Yin had no choice but to unleash the Tri-Azure Sword Intent against the beast’s claws in an attempt to buy enough time to escape.
He did not know exactly where he had appeared in Heavenspire, but he had to be close to the Skyward Gate. Since Master Qing Cao had gone to such lengths to throw the beast after Lu Yin, Lu Yin would not be allowed to die too soon; otherwise, everything would fall apart.
As his mind was processing his situation, Lu Yin finally saw a springboard.
There was a springboard in Heavenspire as well.
He did not hesitate a single moment as he immediately moved onto the springboard and was thrown far away by it.
It was a manufactured springboard, which meant that it could not move Lu Yin faster than the beast. However, the creature would need to use its special movement method to catch up.
Lu Yin glanced back. The beast started growing smaller as soon as the springboard had activated, only to quickly grow larger once again. It was chasing after Lu Yin.
It was following him, but thanks to the springboard, Lu Yin had managed to open up a bit of space between himself and the claws. At this moment, distance meant opportunity.
The beast drew closer and closer, forcing Lu Yin to continuously use the Tri-Azure Sword Intent.
Repeatedly using Immortal matter caused blood to stream from his eyes, but he had no time to worry about his body breaking down. All he could focus on was pressing forward.
Several days passed, and Lu Yin saw a mist glowing with an iridescent light ahead in the darkness of space. Far away, an unseen bell tolled, the sound clearing his mind. Slowly, a gate took form. It was immense, and it was even nearly as large as the monster. The closer Lu Yin drew, the clearer the gate became.
When it became completely visible, Lu Yin saw a colossal gate that connected the sky and the ground. There were stone pillars on either side that had been carved with divine runes. Seven-colored light enveloped everything before him as sacred cranes flew overhead, accompanied by various fantastical beasts. It looked like he was arriving at a sacred land.
“Who approaches? State your name!” a majestic voice echoed. A curtain of rainbow light descended from the stars, stretching towards the Skyward Gate.
Beneath the gate, cultivators stood high above, staring down at Lu Yin with stern expressions.
His speed started to slow. The springboard had delivered him right in front of where the rainbow-colored curtain of light stopped. It was just the right place for him to prove his identity. The rainbow veil was a defensive barrier that most experts would struggle to break, and that was ignoring the fact that it extended all the way to the Skyward Gate.
Lu Yin did not say a word. Instead, he simply pulled out the Skyward Gate token that he had received from Luo Ning.
The moment the token appeared, the rainbow curtain opened up.
The cultivators guarding the Skyward Gate stepped aside, opening up a path that extended outwards. It was readily clear that it would reach Lu Yin’s feet. He was being welcomed in.